Free In the Time of Dragon Moon by Janet Lee Carey

furiously.
    â€œShe slept through the night,” Lady Olivia said, with her usual untouchable tone. The woman who had buried her face in the blankets like a terrified vole was gone. Her silks shone, her face was powdered, her skin scented with hyacinth perfume. I decided I liked the woman I’d met last night who was less proper, more human. The woman who had sung a lullaby, cried.
    â€œThere is something I must speak with you about,” she said sternly. We both ducked as the tossed ball flew over us and splashed in the fountain at our backs.
    â€œRetrieve it, Lady O.,” said the queen, lifting the hem of her elegant gown as she crossed the lawn. Lady Olivia threw me a look that asked,
Why should a person of my station have to fetch it?
before she curtsied in resignation, rolled up a lacy sleeve, and turned for the fountain.
    I offered Queen Adela her tonic while we waited on the gravel path. It was less than an hour after breakfast, a good time to drink it. The little boy on the lawn didn’t seem to need the ball. He ran in circles now, romping on the grass with Pippin.
    â€œHe is a delight,” the queen said. “So like Desmond at that age. I’d almost forgotten.” She swallowed the brew and licked her lips. I thanked the Holy Ones for my ample supply of honey that made the potion tasty. “I will reward you if you help me have another child,” she said with sudden brightness. “This,” she added, lifting the emerald necklace from her throat. “This will be yours if you succeed.”
    I blinked at the expensive jewels. “Thank you, Your Majesty, but . . .” I paused. “What I truly want—”
    Her eyes flared. “What you
want
? Don’t tell me you do not appreciate my gift!”
    I curtsied, afraid. “I like it very much, Your Majesty.” The smile I tried on did not quite fit. My cheeks felt hard. “It is beautiful. Much too good a gift for me. You are exceedingly generous. But if you wish to give me anything, more than any jewel, any gift, all I really want is to go home to a free people.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWh . . . why?”
By the Holy Ones, how could she ask that?
“When the soldiers leave my village, we can all live without fear.” There. I’d said it. The naked confession made me shiver.
    â€œYour skills are wasted there, Uma. You could have so much more. You could practice medicine anywhere you like. This necklace would buy you a pretty house and good land with a few servants to tend it.”
    â€œMy home is in Devil’s Boot, Your Majesty,” I said, though saying it didn’t make it true.
Would I be any more welcome there now than I was when I left?
    Lady Olivia returned with the dripping ball. The queen raised a brow at it until Lady Olivia sighed and used her skirts to dry it off. Satisfied, Her Majesty took it out to the boy and dog again.
    Lady Olivia peered at me. “Are you all right, Uma?”
    â€œFine, my lady.”
    She shook water droplets from her hand and rolled her sleeve back down. “What did she say to you?”
    â€œI talked of home,” I admitted.
    â€œYou miss your tribe,” she said.
    â€œI’m worried about what the king’s troops might do to them while I’m away.”
    We watched the boy and frisky dog run into the bushes after the ball. Jackrun’s sister, Tabitha, came into the walled garden, the sun catching gold-brown gleams in her hair. Her fey blood from her mother’s side showed in her graceful steps as she passed the fountain. “Is Kip out here?”
    Lady Olivia nodded toward the hedge. “Your little brother has been playing catch with the queen.” The hiding boy giggled in the bushes. More laughter and squealing erupted as Tabitha moved toward the hedgerow. Queen Adela joined her. “Where is Kip?” she called, the game of catch turning into hide-and-seek.
    â€œYour talk